Exactly. Once the precedent has been set, everybody knows that it can be done. They don't care whether or not they're abiding by something that they signed and agreed to. Just looking out for their own best interests, no matter who they step on.
actually the dominoes started collapsing when OUR Tmac decided he wanted out of Orlando. so we have him to thank for THE offseason of moves.
tracy's situation was entirely different. he had an opt-out clause in his contract, much like how kobe did this year, and had told the magic of his displeasure in orlando and that he was planning to exercise the opt-out clause. basically so the magic could have been defiant in listening to their franchise player and kept him for the year unhappy and then lose him for nothing or try to trade him and get at least something in return. what tracy did from there is make it so he gets traded to a team he wanted to play for which is fine in my opinion given the circumstances. both teams got better because of this trade. shaq still had 2 years till his opt-out i believe and demanded to be traded which was infantile of him but he got his wish. baron asking to be traded is ridiculous, its one thing when a top-tier player like shaq and tracy demand a trade, but baron is a top 15 player at best. the only reason why he wants to be traded is that he realizes that NO was an avg team in the east but a sub-par team in the west and since he is locked for another 6 years they may not even make the playoffs for those 6 years. if he gets his wish i bet he'll want to move back to the east or be traded to one of the projected top 5 teams in the west (sa,minn,sac,hou,dallas) i admire that he wants to be on a winning team but he should have done this last year when he signed his contract. or get traded somewhere where he'll be on an even crappier team, toronto or atlanta anyone? why not back to charlotte?
Hornets are under the microscope from the league, they're not meeting their attendance figures. Baron knows the Hornets are in trouble. Now Vince wants Magloire ain Canada, and Magloire said he'd love to play at home. It's time the Hornets rebuild and re-locate to a place where fans want to see the team. Tear it down, start over. Magloire for Donyell Marshall, Baron+PJ Brown+Lynch for Stoudamire+SAR. Begin the rebuilding project.
stat boy on PTI announced that the hornets have no intention on trading baron...take that for what its worth i havent seen/heard it anywhere else though
link Statement Regarding Baron Davis NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 -- The following is a general statement from the Hornets organization regarding the recent comments by Baron Davis and his agent: The New Orleans Hornets have no intentions of trading Baron Davis. He is our franchise player and we look forward to having him on the court as we begin a new season with a top-notch coaching staff and an improved and exciting roster. Davis had been very positive toward the Hornets organization and the changes they had made throughout the summer. As a result, the recent comments of his agent caught Owner George Shinn and General Manager Allan Bristow by surprise. Shinn and Bristow plan to meet with Davis as soon as possible in order to make sure that they honor their commitment to doing everything possible to put the best team on the floor to start the 2004-05 season.
I bet he's traded before the deadline. Once a player makes a comment like that, they're already half gone - you can't count on him to give it all for your team because he's not going to risk injury for a team he has no desire to play for.
T-Mac demanded a trade because he can get away with it. The Magic was facing the risk of losing him for NOTHING after next year. In fact, if T-Mac simply said he was not going to resign in Orlando after next year, the result would've been the same. Orlando would be best off trading him. Davis, on the other hand, has ZERO leverage. It was the same with Francis' demand to not play for the Magic right before the T-Mac trade went down. They're both pouting over things they can't control. Neither would actually carry out their threats by sitting out seasons. What has happened to T-Mac is hardly out of the ordinary. Players in the last year of their contracts are quite prone to be traded for one reason or another. However, what Davis and Peja has done this offseason is more or less pointless, because neither has the power to dictate the situation that a last-year-of-contract player has.
